You might want to keep some of your Halloween decorations up a bit longer, because there’s a treat still hiding at the bottom of your candy bag. While everyone was out trick-or-treating on Saturday, October 31, HBO released a surprise new episode of It: Welcome to Derry. And yes, it’s scary, spooky, and very much worth watching.
Especially for Stephen King lorehounds. Titled It: Welcome to Derry — A Story of Derry, the special episode is a standalone prequel that reveals how the Sqoteawapskot locked Pennywise away in the forests of Derry. It is framed as the “real” story, unsanitized by the “gentler tale” that the Sqoteawapskot tribe cooked up for the sake of the children.
But in A Story of Derry, Neekani is now the main protagonist. She defies her elders to hunt in the forbidden Western Wood and help replenish their dwindling food supply. For most of the special, Neekani and her friends brave their encounter with “It”—also the Gallo—who is growing more powerful now that it’s feasting on English settlers.
There’s also a creepy dude named Mitig (played by Zahn McClarnon) who is the first to learn that the shards of It’s giant crystal ship can ward the monster away. There’s also a predictable but nasty plot twist involving Mitig’s true motives, which I won’t give away. But the real draw is the live-action debut of a pretty important character from Stephen King’s mythos: Maturin.
He appears to Neekani after she smokes some of Mitig’s herbs, and he informs her how her tribe can contain It for at least a few generations. A character from both It and King’s The Dark Tower series, Maturin is a benevolent turtle-like deity powered by “The White.” His goodness, purity, and light stand in opposition to It’s darkness. He has a small but pivotal role in the novel, telepathically communicating with Bill and protecting the children during the Ritual of Chüd.
He dies at some point after choking on a universe. Which kind of feels like a joke on the part of Stephen King, given that turtles don’t chew. A Story of Derry is the quickest half hour you might spend this week.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
